All throughout my childhood, I was told about the 1938 Hurricane. My grandparents were affected by this storm, and we had a neighbor whose mother had been sitting on the beach having a luncheon with her church group when the storm came in.

This storm took everyone by surprise. There wasn’t any warning at all.

People were living life as usual, going to work and having picnics on the beach. There wasn’t any preparation going on or evacuating.

I have seen many pictures of the devastation left behind and multiple personal stories along the way.

Over the last several years, storms have come, and even though I have been walking with the Lord for a long time, I realized there were many cracks in my foundation, and the ground it had been built on was a little sandy.

I didn’t feel prepared for the things and situations that had come, and some devastation had been left in the wake of it.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24-27 (NASB)

Over the last several months, this scripture has been brought to mind. I began to seek God on where I allowed the sand to creep in and where my foundation got its cracks.

My biggest weakness is fear takes over when I get into these situations and storms. I began to look to myself, my own wisdom and understanding, instead of God’s. Somehow, it feels in that moment that God’s methods aren’t working for me, and I need to take over and do something to fix it all. Jesus seems like He is sleeping in my boat, and we will all drown and die if I don’t figure out what to do.

Disobedience is not always in the form of rebellion.

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This reaction, for me, is founded in fear and is a self-protective mode I have gone into for a long time.

But if when the storms come and I start relying on myself instead of depending on God and drawing close to Him, I will begin to sink. Just like Peter did when he walked on the water.

One of my favorite songs lately is called Firm Foundation by Cody Carnes. I will share it at the bottom of this blog post. There are a few places where the lyrics stick out to me.

“I’ve still got joy in chaos. I’ve got peace that makes no sense. I won’t be going under. I’m not held by my own strength. Cause I’ve built my life on Jesus. He’s never let me down. He’s faithful through every season. So why would He fail now.”

When I am relying on Him and not myself, and when I allow Him to be my strength in weakness, I won’t be going under.

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As I was writing this, a memory came to mind. When I was younger, I took swimming lessons at the YMCA in town. I remember one day, I swam into the deep end. I could not swim very well then, and I can’t remember why I went out that way, especially without a floating device. Now and again, I push my limit and be brave, I guess.

I was holding on the side. I think I took my hand off and tried to swim and stay above the water, but I started sinking. I realized I would drown because I couldn’t get back up. There was a lifeguard near me in the water, and I saw him swimming, so I grabbed onto his bathing suit because it was the only chance I had of getting up above water again.

When he realized what was happening, he got me up and out.

When we realize we are drowning and the storm is taking over, threatening destruction in its path, our lifeguard, Jesus, wants us to grab onto Him and let HIm pull us out and put us on dry and stable land again.

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If I had just kept trying to get above the water in my own strength that day, I would have drowned and probably died. I am thankful the lifeguard was there, and I chose to reach out and grab for help.

I don’t just want to do that when the storms come; I want to live life, grabbing onto my Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to live relying on my Heavenly Father. I don’t want fear to throw me into self-protective mode, where I will end up drowning and experiencing the devastation that comes from trying to live in my own strength.

Another part of the song goes like this:

“Rain came, wind blew, But my house was built on You. I’m safe with You. I’m gonna make it through. It repeats that a few times and then says, “Yeah, I’m gonna make it through, ’cause I’m standing strong on You. Yeah, I’m gonna make it through ’cause my house is built on You.”

I am doing some repairs on my foundation and making it set on the firm foundation. God continues to remind me that He is my rock, the one on which I stand. When the next storm comes, I want to be better prepared, and I want to say confidently that I will make it because my house is built on Jesus!

Take some time this week to examine your foundation. Check to see if there are some cracks. Ask God to evaluate your heart and show you if you are living in a self-protective mode, or if fear has taken over and you are trying to figure it out or fix it yourself in your own wisdom and strength.

The enemy wants to destroy us and will do whatever he can to do that to us.

Let Jesus in and help you fix those places that need healing and repair so you can be ready when the storms come.

When people see how we survive the storms in life, they will ask us how we made it through, and we can say it is because Christ is our firm foundation. What an amazing testimony!!